John Boelter was one of the Chicago Teachers Union members on strike in September 1968 at Waller
High School, known today by its new name, Lincoln Park High. Today he is a Professor of Biology at
Chicago State University. In 1968, a prominent Young Lord, Ralph “Spaghetti” Rivera returned from
Puerto Rico and subleased a room from Dr. Boelter. Mr. Rivera, who grew up in Lakeview, wanted to be
closer to the Young Lords who were then hanging out in front of the Armitage Avenue United Methodist
Church which later to become the People’s Church, on the corner of Dayton Street and Armitage
Avenue. In Puerto Rico, Mr. Rivera had been hanging out with M.P.I. (Movimiento Pro Independencia)
and F.U.P.I. (Federacion Universitaria Pro Independencia) their student auxiliary, at University of Puerto
Rico campus in Rio Piedras. He was going through a political transformation. Upon arriving in Chicago,
Mr. Rivera soon discovered that his Young Lords colleagues were also going through a transformation.
They had been reorganized once again by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez and the members were struggling
with each other on whether to remain apolitical as just a gang or to become a human rights movement.
Mr. Rivera joined in fully to help Mr. Jiménez, and they together designed the original Young Lords
button that read, “Tengo Puerto Rico En Mi Corazón ( I have Puerto Rico in my heart) with a green map
of Puerto Rico in the center, and a brown arm and fist holding a rifle. The initials YLO, which stood for
“Young Lords Organization,” was at the bottom. They had added organization to their name, to make it
clear that they were now involved in a class struggle, fighting for Latinos, the poor, and for Puerto Rican
self-determination. Mr. Rivera became one of the Young Lords’ first P.E. (political education) class
teachers, as these sessions were being held in the different homes of members including. LP Records of
speeches by Malcom X, Fidel Castro, Don Pedro Albizu Campos, Mao Tse Tung’s Little Red Book, the
National Question, Panther films, and Saul Alinsky strategies were being used as tools for study. It was in
Mr. Boelter’s and Mr. Rivera’s house where Chicago Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton and
the Panthers first arrived on Dayton and Armitage. They were led from the corner to the house to meet
Dr. Boelter, Mr. Rivera, Mr. Jiménez, and the Young Lords. The Black Panthers broke bread and drank
Wild Irish Rose (Fred Hampton did not drink or use drugs) on ice, smoked some weed, and joked a little,
cementing a relationship that has lasted to this day. On a different day within a few weeks at the same
location, it was informally agreed to join together with the Young Patriots. BPP Field Marshall Bob Lee
was working with them. The three groups, who were already major players within their own
communities, became the original members of the alliance known as the Rainbow Coalition. This was
followed by several press conferences announcing the Rainbow Coalition, including one where
Congressman Bobby Rush, appears in a photo with the Young Lords, Young Patriots and other Black
Panthers but where Mr. Jiménez and Mr. Hampton were unable to be present. The Rainbow Coalition
was strongly woven together to the credit of the organizations that took part in it. They all were
committed and followed the same vanguard ideology of the BPP. But it is significant to note that the
Rainbow Coalition was more symbolic than a structured organization. It was the mass way for all the
grassroots organizations to find common ground and to join together for support of each other’s
struggles, and it soon spread to other movements and groups like Rising Up Angry, the Intercommunal
Survival Committees, Red Guard, Brown Berets, S.D.S. and many other groups in many cities. After the
Young Lords went underground and the Puerto Rican and low income residents of Lincoln Park were
completely removed by Mayor Richard J. Daley and his patronage machine, Dr. Boelter moved south to
Morgan Park. Dr. Boelter also joined the Progressive Labor Party. The Progressive Labor Party had left
the Communist Party years before, because their belief was that “they want to skip the Dictatorship of
the Proletariat and go right into utopia.” They are against racism and respect workers, but do not want
to cling on to leaders or unions, preferring to organize the masses. They have been accused of “catering
more to the petty bourgeoisie and the aristocracy of labor.” Then they rejected the Black Panthers and
Young Lords use of Nationalism as an important step. They also had become part of S.D.S. and by 1969
were their largest faction. Dr. Boelter today is still a member. These political discussions on all sides
were part of the Lincoln Park era in the late 60s and 70s.

Contributors

Jiménez, José, 1948-

Publisher

Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives